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Majoring in programing

I have been more of a hardware/networking guy. I do networking building computers, repairing, upgrading, the whole nine yards. Well now im in college majoring in Computer Information Systems, soon I will start programing. Now this is sort of new to me, a while back I messed round with "darkbasic" and the only thing I really know how to do is make a couple batch files. Now what do I need to buy or download or read? What would give me a nice head start before the class starts. Curently im taking a Microsoft Office 2003 class.... man oh man does it suck. Chapters one and two are all about opening a file, I feel like my brain is being put to the test to see how long I can sit there with out spazing out on the first person who says "Which button is to exit out". But I guess I have to take this class to keep moving up in my major.

haha, wait until you have to sit through your introduction to programming class where the professor takes a week to get everyone in the class to be able to compile a ****ing program. I seriously thought, I was going to start coding a virus, just to piss the class off. I was losing my ****ing mind sitting through that ****.

It kind of depends, on how advance you want to get. A good thing you could do would be start trying and see what programming classes you will take, and start working on those languages, or that language. I would also recommend looking for books on Theory of Programming. Programming isn't as much about knowing your language as it is theory. That is something I had to learn that hard way, and I am still learning. I can't think of the name of the books I am thinking of right now, but they would be great.

Introduction to Algoritms would be a good book but you might want to hold off on it for a while.

Something you could do to have fun, work on your language, and while working on it. Code an app. that would use your Networking skills.

Let me know if you have any more questions. It really is a pain sitting through a lot of these ****ing classes. It has it's benefits though. I have a **** load of time to work on my own code, while they are going over that BS.

lol, last year in my programming foundations (must be intro to prog) lectures, I would sit with my laptop and write the practical for next week in the lecture that we got it cause otherwise I was just gonna be going crazy.

At the start of the year I began answering every question that was asked, but I soon stopped cause it just becomes a total drag when someone asks something like "what datatype would you use to hold whole numbers"

But as whizkid was saying, once you know what language you are going to be studying, you might wanna check out some tuts on the net, or read ahead in whatever textbook you're using. That way you'll find everything easy, but you gotta remember that it isn't always a good thing to be miles ahead of everyone - if only for the sake of your own sanity.

You guys do realise there are ways to exempt yourself if you are so confident in your skills, right?

Chris Shepherd
The Nelson-Shepherd cutoff: The point at which you realise someone is an idiot while trying to help them.
\"Well as far as the spelling, I speak fluently both your native languages. Do you even can try spell mine ?\" -- Failed Insult
Is your whole family retarded, or did they just catch it from you?

Originally posted here by chsh You guys do realise there are ways to exempt yourself if you are so confident in your skills, right?

Yes, like stop paying these idiot professors that hide inside of colleges because they can't make it in the real world. Why on earth are you paying people to teach you things that you already know? Or, why are you paying them to teach you things that you're capable of teaching yourself?

I think it's funny how brain-washed these colleges have people. "You can't SURVIVE without getting a fancy piece of paper from US. You will make NO money, and will live your life as a FAILURE".

Granted, Doctors and the like need college. I obviously wouldn't go to a Doctor that didn't have a degree. But a techie? None of the really cool techies that I know ever graduated college, and they're all making PLENTY of money.

I've never finished college/uni, and am making more money then a friend of mine (a Bachelor of computer Science) and also having an even more challanging and exciting job (plus I'm 2 years younger then he is)..

ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI.
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chsh the reason I am in my particular class is because, it is required for a Comp Sci Degree.

As for JP, I don't really care about the money, or how much I could or would make with or without a degree. I personally care more about learning, and if you want to learn somethings college tends to be the best place to go. I plan on finishing undergrad and then work on my grad.

I have already started working on AI, which is what I want to do. Which college tends to be the ground breaking place for it.

Though to the origional poster. It is always what you like, and what you think would be best for you.

I think that sticking through the BS, is good because, I have a really big theory, that even if you know something so well that you could write a book about it. You can always learn something new. Which is what college is for IMHO. Not to really teach you many new things, but to teach you something you didn't know or something you didn't remember.

I did get exempt, but I still had to at least go to the lectures to get the practicals for each week because that's one part of the way that we get exempt in my uni.

And my course isn't comp sci, it's computer and electronic systems...the electronics part is slightly more difficult to teach yourself, imo. Plus, as whizkid said, you may want to go to uni or college simply for the sake of learning and for participating in research (I know there are other ways to do this).